Revolution 2, D.C. United 1

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Zack Schilawski and Shalrie Joseph scored early goals and goalkeeper Matt Reis made five saves to help the New England Revolution secure a 2-1 win over D.C. United on Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

The victory was the Revolution’s (1-0-1, 4 pts.) first of the season after claiming a draw last weekend in LA, while the loss was United’s (1-1-0, 3 pts.) first setback following a convincing victory over the Columbus Crew. This is the fifth straight year the Revs have won their home opener.

The Revs scored early for the second straight game, taking a quick lead through Schilawski’s first goal of the season in the eighth minute. Joseph added a second from the penalty spot in the 17th minute – his second of the season – while Charlie Davies notched a consolation goal for D.C. with a stoppage-time penalty kick.

Revolution head coach Steve Nicol opted to employ a 4-5-1 formation for the second straight week, but with three changes to the lineup which started last weekend’s season opener against the LA Galaxy. Right back Kevin Alston and left back Didier Domi returned from injury to replace Darrius Barnes and Chris Tierney on the backline, respectively, while Sainey Nyassi took over for the injured Marko Perovic (L hamstring strain) on the left wing.

It took the Revs only eight minutes to open the scoring, as Schilawski’s persistence paid off with an early goal. Joseph began the goal-scoring sequence with a searching pass for Schilawski, who brought the ball down 12 yards from goal. The second-year forward’s initial shot was blocked, but he corralled his own rebound and buried his second effort inside the right post.

Joseph put his own name on the score sheet just nine minutes later, converting from the penalty spot after Pat Phelan was taken down by Dax McCarty inside the box. D.C. goalkeeper Pat Onstad stretched to get a hand on Joseph’s effort, but it was perfectly placed inside the lower right corner to extend the Revolution’s lead to 2-0.

The two goals proved to be the only quality scoring chances of the opening 45 minutes, but the remainder of the first half was not without incident. Right midfielder Zak Boggs was replaced by Kheli Dube in the 32nd minute after a midfield collision opened up a gash on his head, while United’s Kurt Morsink picked up a 40th-minute yellow card for a shove on Joseph.

D.C. made a pair of halftime substitutions in an effort to shake things up, bringing on Manchester, N.H., native Davies and Brazilian midfielder Fred, with Josh Wolff and Rodrigo Brasesco making way.

The moves appeared to pay dividends as the visitors pressed after the break. Chris Pontius got on the end of McCarty’s corner kick in the 58th minute, but Alston was well positioned on the right post to clear the danger with Davies looming. Pontius threatened again in the 66th minute, blasting a 20-yard shot over the crossbar after a deft layoff from Fred.

Reis made the save of the game in the 83rd minute, diving full stretch to his left to deny Pontius’ first-time effort from Davies’ pull back to the top of the box, but he could do nothing to prevent Davies from driving a penalty into the middle of the goal in the first minute of stoppage time. The penalty was awarded during a scramble in the box following a McCarty free kick.

Davies’ goal didn’t mark the end of the action, however, as D.C.’s Dejan Jakovic was shown a straight red card in stoppage time following a skirmish near Reis’ goalmouth.

The Revs will play their second straight home game next weekend against the expansion Portland Timbers. Kickoff from Gillette Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 2.

With the win, the Revolution improved its all-time MLS regular-season record against D.C. United to 22-25-8 … Saturday’s game was the 55th all-time meeting between the two clubs including MLS Cup Playoffs and U.S. Open Cup matches.

The win also extended the Revolution’s winning streak against United to four games, and its undefeated streak against D.C. to five games dating back to April 17, 2009.

Charlie Davies’ stoppage-time goal snapped the Revs’ 270-minute shutout streak against D.C. … the Revs had posted back-to-back shutouts in both meetings in 2010, and had 90 scoreless minutes tonight before Davies converted the PK attempt in stoppage time.

The Revs moved to 11-5-0 all-time in home openers and won their fifth in a row dating back to the 2007 season … this was also the fourth time New England had hosted D.C. in a home opener, and the win pushed the Revs to 3-1-0 in those games.

For the second year in a row, Zack Schilawski scored in the team’s home opener … in 2010, the then-rookie Schilawski scored a hat trick in the team’s 4-1 victory over Toronto on April 10 at Gillette Stadium.

With his converted penalty kick, Shalrie Joseph moved into a first-place tie with Steve Ralston (2002-10) for the club lead in career penalty kicks (9).

Shalrie Joseph’s goal was the fourth of his career against D.C., and he leads all current New England players in scoring against United.

With his goal in the 17th minute, Shalrie Joseph has now scored in back-to-back games for the fifth time in his career … he also scored the team’s only goal at LA last week in the team’s season opener.

With the start, Didier Domi made his MLS and New England debut after missing the season opener at LA with swelling in his right knee.

Kevin Alston made his 2011 debut with his start after missing Sunday’s game in LA with a left hamstring strain.

Ryan Cochrane made his Revolution debut when he came on for Franco Coria in the 48th minute.

Matt Reis moved his all-time career record in March to 4-0-1 with the win.

Franco Coria left the match in the 48th minute with tightness in his left hamstring.

Zak Boggs departed the game in the 32nd minute after receiving a gash on his forehead in a collision with Rodrigo Brasesco … he received eight stitches in his forehead after the game.